Automotive manufactures may desire ways to reduce warranty costs on high dollar items such as transmissions. Many consumer and industrial vehicles use automatic transmissions filled with automatic transmission fluid (ATF) as the working fluid. The working fluid may be useful, for instance, in aiding cooling of the transmission. In typical configurations, automatic transmissions are equipped with a cooling system, such as a transmission cooler. The automatic transmission fluid can be configured to flow through the transmission cooler, in an effort to reduce the temperature of the fluid, and then cycle it back into the transmission in order to keep the transmission cool.
The importance of maintaining fresh and clean transmission fluid can be essential in keeping the transmission cool. At regular intervals, the automatic transmission fluid should be removed from the transmission and replaced with fresh fluid as the fluid properties of the automatic transmission fluid may degrade in time and with use. For example, entrained contaminants and debris, not fully removed by the filter assembly of the transmission, can clog the transmission cooler—the result of which is that proper automatic transmission fluid flow through the transmission cooler and to the transmission is prevented. Improper automatic transmission fluid flow can cause the transmission to overheat and produce serious, if not, permanent damage.
In instances where a transmission is replaced, it may be important to test the automatic transmission fluid flow through a reused transmission cooler which is connected to a newly installed transmission. This is to ensure that no debris from the replaced transmission is transferred into the reconnected transmission cooler. Such debris can also prohibit fluid flow to the newly installed transmission once the entire system is reconnected. If fluid flow is prohibited by any debris within the transmission cooler, the efficiency of providing thermal dissipation to the circulating fluid may be greatly inhibited. Thus, a newly installed transmission will also not be properly cooled due to a combination of the lack of fluid it receives from the blocked transmission cooler or the improperly maintained temperature regulation of the fluid being received from the transmission cooler—the result of which can ruin a newly installed transmission due to overheating.
A need still exists, therefore, for an evaluation of fluid flow to the transmission cooling system which identifies whether the fluid is continuously flowing properly. A need further exists for a flushing step that agitates the fluid in order to break loose any debris within the transmission cooler and to effectively clean the cooling system. By removing the debris, the transmission will be less susceptible to failure due to debris blocking the transmission cooler or repeatedly flowing through the transmission.